# Unintentional bilingual pun **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 5, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-bilingual-pun/278127 "2004-12-05T00:08:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-bilingual-pun/278127/1 "2004-12-05T00:08:52Z")
And no, it’s not the Nova, although it comes close. There’s a billboard for a wireless carrier here in town that says “Trae tu numero a lo mejor red,” which means “Take your number to the best network”. The logo of the carrier is in black and red, and the name of the carrier is Verizon. Unfortunately, Sprint’s logo is _Also_ in black and red, and the slogan of their yellow pages is “The best red yellow pages” (since the cover of their YP is red), so when I see that billboard I always think “gee, that Sprint, pretty clever referring to their YP slogan in a cell phone ad,” except it’s for Verizon… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-bilingual-pun/278127/2 "2004-12-05T00:58:46Z")
Shouldn’t it be “Trae _su_ numero a lo mejor red”? Referring to _usted_ rather than _tu_? ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-bilingual-pun/278127/3 "2004-12-05T01:57:56Z")
I suppose it depends if the company wants you to feel that you’re being respected, or that you’re like a close friend to them. Also, the billboard is technically being shown to everyone on the highway, not just tú/usted, so “Traigan sus números” would make at least some sense as well. While we’re at it, it should be “a la mejor red” not “a lo mejor red” right? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-bilingual-pun/278127/4 "2004-12-05T01:58:36Z")
> [@emekthian](#): > > Shouldn’t it be “Trae _su_ numero a lo mejor red”? Referring to _usted_ rather than _tu_? Not necessarily. If you are trying to give the ad a friendly feel, you’ll use _tu_. I regularly see ads using both the familiar and polite forms; it’s just a matter of the tone the advertiser is trying to set. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-bilingual-pun/278127/5 "2004-12-05T07:08:21Z")
So how many times have you seen this ad, **Ludovic**? Once? _Once_? 🙂 The Spanish word _once_ (pronounced OAN-say or OAN-thay) means “eleven”. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-bilingual-pun/278127/6 "2004-12-06T03:55:22Z")
> [@emekthian](#): > > Shouldn’t it be “Trae _su_ numero a lo mejor red”? Referring to _usted_ rather than _tu_? I think nowadays it’s by far the norm for ads to address their audience as tú; seems more friendly and casual. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-bilingual-pun/278127/7 "2004-12-06T15:05:10Z")
> [@emekthian](#): > > Shouldn’t it be “Trae _su_ numero a lo mejor red”? Referring to _usted_ rather than _tu_? In this context it’s completely interchangeable if you’ll use familiar or formal style. The advertiser may want to affect a friendly, casual vibe. The strict tu/usted divide is to be used in actual person-person conversation/correspondence. A billboard is exempt. The variants, BTW: Sec. Pers. Sing. Familiar: Trae tu número a la mejor red. Sec. Pers. Sing. Formal: Traiga su número a la mejor red. Sec. Pers. Plural Modern: Traigan sus números a la mejor red. Sec. Pers. Plural Classic: Traed vuestros números a la mejor red. ---
**Author:** ![TheOtherOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@TheOtherOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOtherOne)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentional-bilingual-pun/278127/8 "2004-12-06T15:16:51Z")
I read to subject of this thread as “Unintentional Bilingual PORN”…talk about let down 🙂